BILLIE JEAN KING CUP

November 15, 2024

Rainer Schuettler

Laura Siegemund

Team Germany

Press Conference

K. BOULTER/L. Siegemund

6-1, 6-2

Team Germany - 0

Team Great Britain - 2

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Unlucky today as a team. Laura, Katie came out and played super-aggressive, especially on the return. Were you expecting that kind of challenge? Can you sum up what it was like on court?

LAURA SIEGEMUND: Yeah, I mean, she's playing extremely well right now, and credits to her. She's super-aggressive, served very good, returns very good.

I have to say that I also really struggled with the surface. I mean, I have not played on a fast court like that in I really don't know how long, and that's just difficult additionally to how good she plays and how fast she plays. It's just a court that is very difficult to find a rhythm or any kind of game for me, particularly having, you know, the kind of preparation that we had. I had 45 minutes on the center court, and that's it. That's just not enough to find my game, I guess.

Yeah, I have to say, you know, I played many tournaments the last weeks. The surfaces are getting slower and slower everywhere, and then we are playing the Finals on a surface like this, I was, yeah, overwhelmed by the pace.

Q. For the captain, can you give us your assessment of the day as a whole, please?

CAPTAIN RAINER SCHUETTLER: First of all, congratulations to the British team. They played very well. First match I thought was, yeah, was very close, especially in the first set in the beginning. Jule played well. It was really just a few serves' difference. I think a little bit more consistent serve of Jule, and it would be even closer.

Yeah, I think it was a good match in general. She had a little drop in the second set at the beginning, but a good match.

Second match, as Laura said, Katie played very well, very aggressive, served well always. When Laura had the chance, she was there. She took the risks, played very aggressive, on the line, took every chance, and she was a better player today.